Man Pleads No Contest in Steroids Case : Follows Guilty Pleas of 3 to Misdemeanor Conspiracy Charges

A Fountain Valley man recently indicted on federal drug charges has pleaded no contest to a state charge of conspiring to dispense illegal anabolic steroids.

Jeffrey A. Feliciano, 38, one of the owners of Fountain Valley Research, entered the plea to a felony count last week in West Orange County Municipal Court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Martin G. Engquist said.

Three other defendants, arrested with Feliciano after the FBI and Fullerton police seized 188 vials of a steroid drug at Feliciano’s laboratory, pleaded guilty Thursday to misdemeanor charges of conspiring to commit an act injurious to the public health. They are Michael Lee Pycior, 21, of Santa Ana; Christopher Mark Mott, 30, of Anaheim and former Fullerton College football player James Guy Joseph, 22, of Fountain Valley. A fourth defendant, Shane Ganz, was expected to plead later this week.

Municipal Judge Floyd H. Schenk gave Pycior, Mott and Joseph six-month suspended jail sentences and fines of $1,000 each.

Feliciano, who was the majority owner of the lab, was sentenced to three years’ probation and a year in Orange County Jail.

A no-contest plea is equivalent for sentencing purposes to a plea of guilty, but it cannot be used as an admission of guilt in any other case.

Anabolic steroids are synthetic derivatives of the male hormone testosterone and can be acquired only through a doctor’s prescription. Steroids have been used illegally by athletes involved in weight-lifting, body-building, football and other sports.

Coach Became Ill

Feliciano’s plea is the culmination of a case that began in 1986 after a Fullerton football coach became ill after using steroids supplied by Feliciano. Police said he was converting steroids into an injectable liquid at his lab, then selling them to college and professional athletes in Orange County and out of state.

Feliciano was known as a body-building guru who became a confidant and adviser to high school and college athletes in Orange County. He has written many articles on steroids for body-building magazines. He also gained the respect of many top athletes, including former Rams All-Pro Jack Youngblood, who has said he adopted some of Feliciano’s weight-lifting techniques.

Feliciano could not be reached for comment.

According to Food and Drug Administration officials, some of the risks associated with long-term use of steroids are prostate cancer in men and liver cancer in both men and women. Steroids also have been associated with heart disease, strokes, personality changes, reproductive problems and, in women, irreversible development of male characteristics such as beards, hair loss and deep voices.

Feliciano was indicted in October on federal charges of conspiring to conduct a clandestine prescription drug-distribution and manufacturing business. Federal prosecutors allege that he helped run one of the largest black market steroid operations in the nation. The indictment also lists eight counts of mail fraud and 23 counts of violating the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act.